Jordan man to hang for raping nine-year-old girl

AMMAN (AFP) – A Jordanian man was sentenced to death on Sunday for raping a seven-year-old girl while she was on her way to school last year, court documents showed.

“The 26-year-old convict lured the girl to an abandoned area, where he stripped her naked before raping her,” in the northern city of Salt, the court said.

Meanwhile a Jordanian man who tried to rape a nine-year-old girl last year at her home was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but the court said it halved the jail term after her family “waived their right.”

“The man could not rape the girl because her father arrived home,” it said without elaborating.

Last year, Jordan reported more than 2,000 cases of violence against children, according to government statistics.